For instance, I like to add garam marsala along with garlic onions and sea salt, which is how I flavored my soup today. I also added sautéed spinach; it added a nice texture that complemented the dish.

Creamy cauliflower soup enjoyed with garlic mushrooms and spinach.

While I was steaming the cauliflower I sautéed sunflower oil, green onion, and garlic in a skillet until the aromas flooded my home. Then I added the mushrooms, coated them with garlic powder and sea salt, and cooked them until the moisture came out.

***this step is crucial to cooking mushrooms! I recently learned that if you leave them cooking for longer, the moisture will come out and they will be much easier to chew and more pleasant overall.

Once the mushrooms were done, I quickly sautéed the spinach.

Learning how to multitask in the kitchen can be challenging at first, but I have to say this was the first time I really noticed how much I’ve been learning within this entire experience. I felt the connection that cooks feel with their kitchens 💚 also, I efficiently multitasked without burning any pans! Horay!

I found my flow in the kitchen and it was glorious. Always learning, always growing.

Servings: 2

Time: 20 minutes

Cauliflower SoupIngredients:

A head of cauliflower

½ c vegetable broth + more for desired consistency

¼ c soy milk or a plant based milk

1 large garlic clove

½ tsp garam marsala

¼ tsp garlic powder

Sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Steam clean cauliflower florets until tender enough to slide a fork through

I must say it sparked some creative fire because once I got home, I was
inspired to learn all about cabbage, including the health benefits,
nutritional profile, how to select and store it, and how to prepare it!This website is amazing if you have ever felt overwhelmed with the internet & would like a single, condensed article with everything you need to know about healthy foods to get started.

Despite all of my cabbage research, I still decided to stick with raw red
cabbage this time around because I needed it to be somewhat strong enough to act like a hard taco shell! Although, I believe steamed cabbage would work just as well. It’s a totally durable vegetable.

So I went on to prepare the filling with what I already had/just bought, which ended up including avocado, tomatoes, leftover roasted zucchini, jalapeños, steamed broccoli + kale, and red onions.

I love the vibrant colors! Only bummer was that I didn’t have a single yellow or orange vegetable anywhere, so I can’t say I ate a rainbow today… how tragic. To prevent anymore tragedies, next time I can add…

Although I didn’t consume a rainbow, I felt like I had and I was full all day! Success.

Here’s the glorious set up:

You know it’s gonna be good when you end up having a photo shoot with your food :p

I also went to Good Will the other day to get some pots and while I was there I found these super cute plates (above) and this Japanese mug (below) for my new place. The plates and mug added up to less than $2! I love Good Will; I always find the cute stuff, muahaha.

Gah! It’s so cute.
& filled with black tea.
Holy caffeine.

I think it’s pretty self explanatory what I did with the filling and the cabbage “shell,” but just in case, here’s the order I put the filling in:
white rice first, kale, the big vegetables (broccoli, tomatoes, avocado,
zucchini) followed by the tiny vegetables (red onion, jalapeno) & herbs (cilantro).

I kind of just made it up as I threw ingredients into a bowl, so they’re super easy to make. If I can do it, you can definitely do it.

***I did not know oatcakes existed until I thought I had an epiphany and called it an oatcake. Only to find, in my research, that oatcakes are a Scottish thing and they usually include butter, so here is my clean, vegan version.

Vegan Oatcake for One

Ingredients:

• Handful of oats

• 1-2 Large spoon-fulls of apple sauce

• Couple shakes of cinnamon (adjust to taste)

• Swig of vanilla

• 1 Mashed banana

Directions:

1. Mash the banana with a fork

2. Add the apple sauce + oats

3. Add the cinnamon + vanilla

4. Cook in skillet over medium heat for a couple minutes

5. Top it off with some honey

*adjust amounts of ingredients to however mushy/dense you like your pancakes – I just added enough oats to where it seemed chunky enough to cook in a skillet.

**blending the oats first into an oat flour would be SO ideal if you want more of a homogenous PANcake rather than a chewy OATcake

I love lentils. They are my new favorite food. I’ve even got some set aside to sprout!

Sprouting lentils is extremely easy & so good for you. I was intimidated for a while, but I did some research on sprouting and it’s actually very simple! All I did was put about ½ c of dry lentils in a strainer and I rinsed them with water from the faucet 3 different times yesterday. In between rinses I just set the strainer on the counter so that they stay moist, but not waterlogged.

It’s that easy.

And I already have little sprouts!!!

Back to the soup.

I enjoyed this soup so much I’ve decided to add it to the list of meal prep ideas for when school starts. I plan on doubling this recipe (5 servings) and storing each soup in its own individual mason jar. I could pack the lentil soup along with avocado slices, rice or some seed crackers. Or maybe some dosa!!!

Side note – I am going to learn how to make dosa someday.

Side note II – lentils + rice = complete protein

Anyways, this spicy lentil soup was fairly easy to make and only took about 30 minutes!

I’ve been feeling extremely groggy since I stopped eating meat, which I understand, but I didn’t realize until this week how much protein I’ve been missing. Along with going out on weekends, my body has truly been suffering! For example, I feel weaker and yoga has been more challenging in the physical sense. Another example, I have been taking naps! I never take naps. So this is a huge wake up call for me..

I need more protein!

So I did some research on vegan protein sources:

Beans

Nuts

Legumes

Greens

Soy

I have always loved tofu so I remembered to pick some up on my next grocery haul.

And I always make sure to have some canned beans around.

& I learned all about the many ways to prepare tofu! Exciting stuff ^^

For my first successful tofu cooking experience, I decided to make scrambled tofu with black beans and green onions, tomatoes, avocado, and jalapeños.

It was fairly easy to make this! I was surprised and very happy with this meal 🙂 I used half of the tofu block for this serving.

Next time, I should add something orange and yellow like sweet potatoes and corn or bell pepper boats! And add some cilantro or fresh basil.

5. Enjoy!
I’m so so pleased with how the tofu came out both times. Definitely will be adding these two recipes to my meal prep list for the school year.
Next I want to make miso soup with extra tofu, my mom always orders it.

I’ve been craving Asian food a LOT lately, so I mixed together a little bowl of seasoning for the rice (rice vinegar, liquid aminos, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin, garlic powder) then I sliced some cucumber, and got out my little container of diced onions, jalapeños, and cilantro that I’ve started to keep on hand. It saves a bunch of prep time!

Unfortunately, I was unable to snap a picture of an actual wrap… Guess I enjoyed my meal too much 🙂

Not to worry though, I made wraps again the next day!

This time, the only difference was the veggies to fill the wraps.

I used: steamed green beans, broccoli, carrots, and cabbage

I used the same seasoning for the rice as the day before.

Also, I really like to put a little smudge of soybean paste (far left) on the completed wrap on the outside or hidden somewhere inside the wrap. It’s not very healthy as it contains a lot of salt but every now and then I tell myself it’s gonna be okay and indulge just a lil 😀